Setting up and using your Blackbaud integration and SSO

Do I have to connect to the SKY API?

Yes, pickAtime has transitioned to the SKY API. Support for the non SKY API SSO has been discontinued

I'm ready to test my event. Why can't I see my account URL?

When using Blackbaud you need to create your Resource Tile and its SSO link using these instructions: Create the SSO - new schools. It will take parents to the account which will allow parents to see the events.

I'm using SSO, why is there an SSO Login URL?

The SSO Login URL (located in Global Setup / Business, Show Advanced Options, Single Sign On Options, Blackbaud) is used to redirect Administrators to a login page after their session expires, allowing them to re-access our system without requiring them to use SSO again.

Why are our parents not being taken to our pickAtime event when using the Blackbaud SSO Integration?

Please check and confirm that:

  1. You have integrated the Blackbaud SKY API and reconnected to pickAtime from the Blackbaud Marketplace.
  2. Your SSO URL is created correctly.


Using the SKY API Data Importer and Errors

I integrated pickAtime from the Blackbaud Marketplace, but when I go to the importer I don’t see the SKY API importer option.

In the Admin UI tool, go to the Global Setup / Business, Show Advanced Options, Single Sign On Options, Blackbaud, and check the box 'Use SKY API Importer'. This will activate the SKY Importer on your account.

I added an event but when I try to import from Blackbaud the import doesn't show any events are available to import into.  How do I fix this?

Blackbaud will only import into a PTA event type, not a Normal or Simple PTA.  Please create the event on the Events>Preview page with the PTA event type and try again.

I have an administrator role in Blackbaud, but I am being told that I don't have access to any SKY API Blackbaud products and that I have to contact my organization's administrator. I don't have the ability to use the importer when I am in PickATime.

In order for your user credentials to work, your username must have BBID and also have one of the following roles: 'Academic Group Manager', 'Schedule Manager' or 'Platform Manager'. and the 'SKY API Data Sync' role in Blackbaud.

NOTE, if you establish one of the roles to your account, you have to LOGOUT from Blackbaud and then login again.

On the Blackbaud Importer page I received the following error: Error during obtaining Year/Term list from Blackbaud SKY API. Response Code: Unauthorized. Reason: Unauthorized. . Details: {"errors" [{"message","User has no access.","error_code": 401, "error_name":"ServiceClientException","raw_message":"User has no access"}]}.

Please make sure that the account you are using to run the import has BBID, and one of the following roles ('Academic Group Manager', 'Schedule Manager' or 'Platform Manager') and the 'SKY API Data Sync' role in Blackbaud.

NOTE, if you establish one of the roles to your account, you have to LOGOUT from Blackbaud and then login again.

On the Blackbaud Importer page I received the following error: Error during obtaining 'selected term' list from Blackbaud SKY API. Response Code: NotFound. Reason:Not Found. .Details: {"errors":[{"message":"One PodLookup Service returned a 404. Check to make sure the mapping between the service type Blackbaud.EduLegacy. Service and the environment id xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx exists in Blackbaud.One.PodLookup.DataService.

This indicates a problem with the production environment and the SKY API.

Please contact Blackbaud to resolve this issue.

On the Blackbaud Importer page I received the following error: Error during obtaining OfferingType list from Blackbaud SKY API. Response: Forbidden. Also the server error pop-up would appear.

Blackbaud has made an update, where the 'scopes' check was added.


For such an error, we got the following details from Blackbaud: "This application has insufficient scope to perform the operation. This application's scopes configuration is either insufficient for the request or the Blackbaud Environment Admin has not yet approved the application's updated access configuration. Learn more: https://developer.blackbaud.com/skyapi/docs/applications/scopes"

I just imported into pickAtime but nothing is there! What did I do wrong?

Check Blackbaud to confirm that the term that you selected has data. You may need to select a different term.

I did an admissions import and now I get daily emails.  How do I make them stop?

This is normal after establishing the admissions import. The admissions import will resync daily which leads to you getting daily emails. You can stop getting notifications by going to the Global Setup / Business page, Advanced Options, Sync Notification Contact section, and uncheck the box in front of your name.

If you don’t want a daily sync you can also log out from the Blackbaud importer, the data sync will no longer be valid and the system will also stop sending notifications.

How do I add a new teacher and class without doing another import from Blackbaud?

Navigate to Events Management and select Class Editor. 

Select the option Add Teacher/Team and then Add Teacher and locate or add the new teacher.

Once you see the teacher listed on the left-hand side, select the teacher and select Add Class. Add in the new class. 

Once you see the class listed, click on the class, and then in the white entry box start typing in the name of the student in the format last, first name. When the system locates the student press enter. Unless you have 100s of students to add this will move quickly. 

Alternatively you can turn off the Blackbaud importer and import .txt (Tab-delimited) files. 

See also:  Modifying Enrollment Data Modifying Teacher or Room Data 

Testing the SSO and SSO Errors

What does "the integration with pickatime is not set up correctly" mean?

This appears when you have added your vendor id # to the end of the secret key (located in Global Setup / Business, Show Advanced Options, Single Sign On Options, Blackbaud). The secret key should be empty after the ==.

When I click on the Resource Tile, I get an error message saying 'Failed to get Blackbaud Account Information'

Confirm that your SSO URL is created correctly. NOTE, your SSO URL is not your redirect URL, the layout for your SSO URL resembles a layout similar to this:  https://11451.myschooldemo.com/app/sso/auth/pickatime.  It is located in the Content menu under Additional Content Types, Links. To create the link take the first portion from your Blackbaud URL and the second from your SSO link (See step 5 Core / Security, Authentication settings, SSO Settings).  

If this information is correct then check that you have entered an 88 character SSO Key.

What does "There was an error: Blackbaud user not found" mean?

This appears when pickAtime is not able to locate a user with a Blackbaud email within our Database. Users must exist in both pickAtime and Blackbaud with a matching User ID (parentID or teacherID). Check and confirm that the user exists in both systems and if they do confirm that their User ID data matches.

What does "Failed to get Blackbaud user" mean?

This appears when pickAtime is not able to communicate with BB communication. Please check and confirm that the user exists in both systems and if they do confirm that User ID data matches and try again.

Our parents are trying to log into our event and are receiving the error "We do not have that email in our database" but they do not have the option to create an account. Why is this happening?

When the Blackbaud Integration is in use, parents can only access the school account from the Resource Board. Parents cannot log in from pickatime.com, they must be directed to use either the Resource Board.

Why is it that when one of my teachers accesses the event on pickAtime they are sent to the parent side and not the teacher/ administrator side?

Administrators (including teachers) have their Blackbaud UserID added to their pickAtime Contact accounts as a TeacherID and Parents and Students have their UserIDs added to their pickAtime Contact accounts as ParentIDs and StudentIDs. TeacherID holders are sent to the Reports section within the Admin Side, ParentID and StudentID holders are sent to the Customer/Parent side. Teachers who are also Parents however, have access to both, landing on the Customer/Parent side with the ability to access their Reports via an Admin UI button at the top of the page. Your teacher should be directed to use this. If your teacher doesn't see this, check their Contact account to confirm that they have their UserID placed in both the TeacherID and ParentID fields. If it is not, you can place the UserID in the TeacherID field.

I am experiencing a situation where only parents or teachers can access the link from the Resource Board but the other group cannot.  But I set my link to give access to both groups. How do I fix this?

1) Open the "SSO Setup" page [Core > Security (menu) > Authentication Settings (menu item) > SSO Settings (tab)] and review the SSO settings for pickatime.

2) Now open the "Additional content types" page [Core > Content (menu) > Additional Content Types (menu item) > Links (tab)] and compare the Category Settings that the PickAtime SSO Link belongs to. 

Pay attention to the selected type of access to the category [Public/Secure]. If you have selected the Secure option, please make sure that appropriate roles are added to the right list. If not, add them and test the SSO. 

If this does not help, go to the below steps.

3) Click on the category name to see a list of links that belong to it.

4) Press the Edit link button and review the settings. Make sure that the Publish date is less than the current date. Copy the Destination URL for further use.

5) Open the "Resource Boards" page [Core > Content (menu) > Resource boards (menu item)]. Press the "Edit post" button and make sure that Category and Category Link correspond to those that you opened in the previous steps. Send the direct SSO link from the previous step to your parents/faculty members so they can test it directly. 

6) Open the "Users" page and find the user(s) who cannot access pickAtime via the PickAtime SSO tile. Press on this user and select the Access tab in the Contact card and review their Personas and Roles sections.

7) Click on the "Employment" button and click on the Edit button and ensure that they have the correct roles.

What does "pickAtime user not found by Blackbaud userID" mean?

This appears when pickAtime is not able to locate a user with a Blackbaud IDwithin our Database. Users must exist in both pickAtime and Blackbaud with a matching User ID (parentID or teacherID). Check and confirm that the user exists in both systems and if they do confirm that their User ID data matches.